Means for indicating abnormal temperatures in vegetable matter.



A. D. KENNEDY.

MEANS FOR INDICATING ABNORMAL TEMPERATURES IN VEGETABLE MATTER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 22, 1915.

1,224,385 Patented May 1, 191?.

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INVENTOR WITNESSES ATTO R N EY tends to UNITED sT TEs PATENT oEEIcE.

ALFRED D. KENNEDY, 0E eEEENvILLE, SOUTH cAnoLIN AssIeNoE. 0E ONE-HALF o AMERICAN MACHINE & MANUFACTURING COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NORTH cAno INA.

MEANS FOR INDICATING ABNORMAL TEMPERATURES IN VEGETABLE MATTER.

Patented May 1, 1917.

Application filed May 22, 1915. Serial No. 29,771.

of Greenville, county of Greenville, and State of South Carolina, have invented an Improvement in -Means for Indicating Abnormal Temperatures in Vegetable Matter, of'which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide means for indicating, detecting or recording abnormal rises in temperature within piles of cotton seed, cotton seed hulls, grains or material which, upon standing,

have the internal temperature increased to such a condition which is detrimental to the material itself or which might produce spontaneous combustion with injury to the material and the inclosing building. More specifically, my object is to provide a suitable means which may bethrust into the piles of material, and which under thermostatic action may operate indicators or recorders or both arranged at a distant place and by which the person in charge may readily know the temperature condition of the materials and any variation in the temperature which may take place, and thereby have timely warning of any dangerous condition which might arise, and have the opportunity of rectifying the condition before actual damage occurs.

My invention consists in thermostatic circuit, controlling devices arranged to be placed within the pile of material and having conducting wires extending toa distance from said pile and provided with electrically actuated indicators or signaling devices to indicate the condition of the thermostats within the pile of material; and the indicatorsmay be visual or alarms, and may also include recording means to indicate the variations in the temperature. The indicating or recording devices may be directly operated or controlled by the thermostats or may be indirectly controlled in any suitable manner.

My invention also compre ends details of construction which, together with the features above specified, are more fully described hereinafter and pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the drawings Figure 1 is a sectional elevation through a building and pile of material, and showing my improved apparatus applied thereto; Flg. 2 1s an elevation of the thermostat and diagrammatically illustrating the connections therefrom with the signaling and.

recording devices; Fig. 3 is a similar view of a modified construction showing the employment of a common battery circuit for a plurality of thermostats; and Fig. 4: is a sectlonal elevation through the thermostat.

2 represents any suitable building, and 3 a pile of cotton seed, cotton seed hulls, grain or other vegetable material adapted -to generate abnormal internal" temperatures, said material stored in the said build- Ing so. as to be maintained in dry condition. 4, 4, represent a plurality of thermostats preferably having handles 5 by which they may be thrust into the mass of material constituting the pile, and thereby enable the thermostats to .be pushed into difierent positions within the pile. 6, (i,

represent means at a distance from the pipe and which for convenience are indicated as located outside of the building, for indicating the conditions of temperature of the pipe, said indication being by signal, visual or recording methods,separately or together, as may be preferred. These indieating devices 6 may be arranged in any other building or suitable place, not only at a distance from the pile 3 but from the building 2, if so desired, Electric circuits 7 extend from the thermostats '4: to the indicating devices 6, and are preferably arranged as-iiexible cables which may be of fire-proofed wire.

The details of the apparatus may be greatly varied without departing from the essential requirements of the improvements,

and l have shown by way of illustration certain details of construction and circuits to which it will now more specifically refer.

The thermostats may consist of a metal body 8 having a perforated metal case 9 at the end which may terminate in a pointed nose 10 so as tofpermit, easy entrance into the pile of material 3. The body portion 8 is connected in- -'a'ny suitable manner with a metallic tubular handle 5, which may be of such length as Will enable the thermostat to be pushed into the pile to the requisite distance, and also to be readily withdrawn therefrom When desired. The body part provides a compartment 11 in which may will itself close upon a contact 14, and

if still continued, will cause the contact 14 to close upon a contact 15. The thermostatic member 12 is connected by one of the wires of an electric circuit 7- which extends through the tubular handle to the indicators at a distance. The contact 13 is connected to one end of the resistance coil 16. The contact 14 is connected by a circuit 18 with the middle of the resistance coil 16, and the contact 15 is connected by a circuit 17 with the other end of the resistance coil 16 and with the other wire of the circuit 7 leading to the distant indicators.

Referring now to Fig. 2, the circuit 7 is shown as including a battery 23 acting as a source of electric energy, and also includes the electro-magnet 20 of the recording device 19. This recording device may be of any suitable construction, many of which may be obtained in the commercial market. As shown, an armature 21 actuates a pointer 21 under the influence of the magnetic field developed in the electro-magnet 20, the pull on the armature being resisted by the spring 21". The recording pointer 21' may record upon a rotating drum 22 actuated by clock work, and aside from the tracing of variations in its movement, the positionof the pointer may be watched visually as an indicator of conditions. It will now be understood that if the thermostatic member 12 may make electrical connection with contact 13, the

electro-magnet 20 will be energized with the resistance coil 16 in circuit. If the temperature under which the thermostatic element 12 is increased, the contacts 13 and 14 will be brought into connection and this will then reduce the resistance in the circuit by short-circuiting a portion .of the resistance coil 16, with the result' that the armature 21 will be drawn farther into the electro-magnet 20 and with an increased amplitude of marking upon the drum. A still higher heating of the thermostatic member will cause a connection betweenthe contacts 14 and 15, so that the resistance coil 16 will be entirely short-circuited, with the result that a still greater movement to the armature 21 and the pointer will be obtained. When this latter action takes place, the danger point may be considered as. having arrived and the arm 24 of the armature 21 may close the contacts 24 of the circuit 26 and cause an alarm to be sounded upon the electric bell 25, thereby not only providing a record of the variations in temperature and the times of variations, but also giving an auditory alarm when the danger temperature has occurred.

I have shown the thermostat and its associated means in a simple and inexpensive form, and one which is easily pushed into the pile of material or withdrawn therefrom, but I do not restrict myself to the particular construction here shown, as this device may be made in any suitable manner. While I have also shown the use .of a plurality of contacts and means to vary the resistance of the circuit thereby, it will be evident that a single contact alone may be employed, and in which case the resistance coil 16 may be omitted. It is also evident that while the resistance coil 'is shown as contained within the. thermostat for convenience, it may be arranged at any other portion of the circuit 7 as found most convenient.

In Fig. 3, I have indicated a plurality of thermostats 4 operating from a common battery 23 through circuit 7 and a common circuit 7, which latter contains a single signal bell 25 for both circuits. I have also shown a separate indicator device 19 in each of the circuits leading to the thermostats. It is evident from the construction here shown that all of the thermostats irrespective of their number may be operated from a common source of energy, and all may have a single alarm irres ective of whether they have indi /idual in icators or recorders or not.

I do not restrict myself to the particular character of the means to indicate the temperatures which may exist within the pile of material, except in so far as there must be one or more thermostatic devices ortably constructed and adjustably laced within the pile of material, and sai thermostatic devices operable to control electrically actuated means at a distance to indicate the temperature conditions within the pile.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In an apparatus of the character stated, a thermostat having a long handle by which it may be thrust into a pile of loose material whose temperature is to be indicated, combined with suitable temperature indicating devices separate from the thermostat, a source of electric ener and flexible electric circuits including t e source of ener and indicating devices extending along t e handle to the thermostat and controlled thereby.

2. In an apparatus of the character stated, a thermostat having a long handle by which itmay be thrust into a pile of loose material Whose temperature is to be indicated, combined with a source of electric energy, flexible circuits connecting the source of energy with the thermostat, and alarm devices under the control of the thermostat for indicating when the temperature of the material in the pile rises to a predetermined maximum allowable amount.

3. In an apparatus of the character stated, a thermostat having a long handle by which it may be thrust into a pile of loose material whose temperature is to be indicated, combined with a source of electric energy, flexible circuits connecting the source of energy with the thermostat, and a recording device arranged in the circuit for recordin variations in temperature of. the pile as evidenced by the thermostat.

In an apparatus of the character stated, a plurality of independent thermostats each having a long handle by which it may be thrust deeply into a pile of loose material whose temperature is to be indicated, and

whereby said thermostats may be thrust into different portions of the same pile, separate electrically operated indicatin devices arranged normally at a distance om the thermostats when in operation, separate electrical circuits leading from each of the thermostats and respectively including an indicator device, and a source of energy arranged in the circuits and common to all of the thermostats and all of the electrically operated indicatin devices.

5. an apparatus of the character stated, a portable thermostat having a thermostatic element, a plurality of circuit closing devices adapted to be successively closed by the action of the thermostatic element, an inclosing case therefor, an indicator of a recording type for indicating the condition of the thermostatic member and its relation to the circuit closing devices, a source of electric energy, circuits including the source of energy, the indicator and the circuit closing devices of the thermostat, and means for introducin variable resistances into the circuit leading to the recorder and controlled by the operation of the plurality of circuit closing devices, whereby the indicator is made to indicate and record the variable temperature conditions of the thermostat and the material in which it is arranged.

In testimony of which invention, I hereunto set my hand.

ALFRED D. KENNEDY. Witnesses:

ANNA M. BEATY, R. F. WATSON. 

